MODERN PAINTERS
For more artists like
Ernest Meissonier, see:Modern Artists.

Biography

An important figure in French
painting and one of the best
history painters of the 19th century, Ernest Meissonier excelled in
the production of small but highly detailed history
painting, notably scenes from the Napoleonic War. A miserly and conceited
individual, he was also one of the best
genre painters, specializing in figure
painting with historical costumes, often taken from the 18th century.
He was also noted for his etching.
From the age of 30 onwards, he received numerous awards, including the
Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour - the first painter to be so honoured.
Regarded today as one of the greatest miniaturist
painters, the best collections of his work are in the Musee
d'Orsay in Paris, and the Wallace Collection, London.

Training and
Early Works

Born in Lyon, the son of a grocery merchant,
Meissonier first began sketching and drawing
as a child. In about 1832 his parents reluctantly agreed to allow him
to train as a painter, and he joined the studio of Leon Cogniet. He also
devoted himself to copying works by the 17th century Dutch
Realist artists in the Louvre. In 1831 Meissonier exhibited at the
Paris Salon: his successful
entry was a painting entitled Les Bourgeois Flamands (Dutch Burghers),
but also known as The Visit to the Burgomaster. It was duly purchased
by the art collector Sir Richard Wallace, in whose collection (the Wallace
Collection in London) it is, together with fifteen further paintings by
the same artist. The Visit to the Burgomaster was Meissonier's
first miniature painting
- a genre which was destined to earn him international renown. Other early
exhibits included several examples of genre-painting, such as The Chess
Player (1835-6, Hamburg Museum) and The Errand Boy (1835-6),
which he showed at the Salon of 1836, along with The Reader, Three
Smokers, The Flautist, A Poet and The Art Lovers,
all in the Louvre. These early works
combine excellent painterly technique - very much in the approved style
of academic art - with
historical realism and a highly
developed sense of popular taste. Furthermore, his output was enormous
and paintings such as The Parish Priest's Wine (1869, Rheims Museum)
are evidence of his great skill.

Genre Painting

Following an unsuccessful attempt at religious
painting, Meissonier returned to his favourite small-format genre
painting, exhibiting such masterpieces as the Game of Chess
(1841), the Young Man playing the Cello (1842), Painter in his
Studio (1843), The Guard Room, the Game of Piquet (both
1845), and the Game of Bowls (1846). It was his mastery of microscopic
detail, in the style of Dutch
Realist Genre Painting, which led to his nickname as the "French
Metsu", a reference to the Dutch painter Gabriel
Metsu (1629-67), who excelled in miniature painting of bourgeois domestic
life. Meissonier's favourite themes included scenes from 17th and 18th
century life, involving games of chess, cards, playing music or tavern
scenes, all executed in painstakingly exact detail. In 1855, he attained
new heights when two of his pictures - The Gamblers and The
Quarrel (La Rixe) - were presented by the French Emperor Napoleon
III to the English Royal Court. Two years later, at the Salon of 1857,
he showed nine paintings and drawings; including the Young Man of the
Time of the Regency, The Musician, and A Reading at Diderot's.

History
Painting

By now a favourite of Napoleon III, Meissonier
was invited by his patron to illustrate scenes of battle from the Italian
campaign (see, for instance, Napoleon III at Solferino, 1863, Louvre)
undertaken by Napoleon III and Victor Emmanuel II of Piedmont and Sardinia,
against the Austrian Hapsburgs. Meissonier also painted several works
featuring Napoleon Bonaparte, including: Napoleon I in 1814 (1862,
Walters Art Museum) and Napoleon and his staff returning from Soissons
after the Battle of Laon (1864, Musee d'Orsay). Other historical works
included Le General Championnet (Lyons Museum), The Barricade
(1848, Louvre) and The Siege of Paris (1870, Louvre).

Later Works

In late 1861 Meissonier was elected a full
member of the Academie des Beaux-Arts in Paris, although he was
to be denied the post of Professor of Painting up on which he set his
heart. He continued however to work on his oil
painting with elaborate care - some of his canvases taking up to 10
years to complete - and remained a regular exhibitor. He enjoyed immense
popularity during his lifetime, as is shown by the phenomenal prices paid
for some of his works; he sold Napoleon in 1814 in 1890 for 850,000
francs, and his oil painting Cuirassiers for a whopping £10,000.

Less well-known is his success in printmaking:
see, for example, his etchings - The Last Supper, The Lute Player,
The Old Smoker, the Preparations for a Duel, and The
Reporting Sergeant, all in the Wallace Collection. He also explored
lithography, although surviving
prints are rare.

History and genre paintings by Ernest
Meissonier can be seen in several of the best
art museums around the world.

 For biographies of other 19th-century
French artists, see: Famous Painters.
 For more military painting, see: Homepage.